1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to telecommunications systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for controlling call volume in a packet network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, telecommunications systems provide the ability for two or more people or machines (e.g., computerized or other electronic devices) to communicate with each other. A telecommunications system may include various networks for facilitating communication that may be generally organized into packet networks and circuit-switched networks. An exemplary circuit-switched network includes a plain old telephone system (POTS), such as the publicly switched telephone network (PSTN). Exemplary packet networks include internet protocol (IP) networks, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, frame-relay networks, and the like. One type of packet network is a voice-over-internet protocol (VOIP) network.
VOIP network providers often provide support for multiple coder-decoders (codecs). Codecs are used to code and decode media data (e.g., voice) communicated during a call among endpoints. Multiple codec support in a VOIP network accommodates the needs of an array of customer segments, from wholesale customers to enterprise customers to individual consumers. However, engineering network elements to meet the requirements of these codecs can be problematic. Notably, calls using some codecs consume more bandwidth and network resources than calls using other codecs. Too many calls using high-bandwidth codecs can decrease performance of the VOIP network. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for an improved method and apparatus for controlling call volume in a packet network.